Missing a filing deadline can be legal malpractice when an attorney had a duty to meet that deadline, failed to do so, and the mistake caused you a financial or legal loss. It isn’t automatic, though. In many missed-deadline cases involving a lost lawsuit, you must also show the underlying claim would have succeeded if the lawyer had acted properly. Jeffress Law, PC, handles professional malpractice cases involving allegations such as missed court and filing deadlines.
Legal malpractice is part of Christopher W. Jeffress’s professional background. He has practiced since 1991 and brings decades of litigation experience to Jeffress Law, PC, a small Boulder, CO-based firm serving Fort Collins, Longmont, Loveland, and surrounding communities. Antwan D. Hampton, Jr. joined the firm after working in personal injury, insurance defense, and criminal prosecution. The firm emphasizes close client communication and individual attention.
Which Missed Deadlines Can Lead to Malpractice?
Some legal deadlines have serious consequences. One clear example is a statute of limitations. When a lawyer lets that deadline expire, an otherwise viable lawsuit can be barred before the court ever decides its merits.
Colorado’s Bebo Construction case involved a legal malpractice claim based on an attorney’s failure to file the underlying lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitations. The Colorado Supreme Court explained that causation depended on whether the underlying case would have succeeded if the attorney had filed it on time.
Other missed deadlines may involve court filings, appeals, required notices, or other time-sensitive steps. Some mistakes can be corrected without harming your case, so a late filing doesn’t always amount to malpractice.
What Do You Have to Prove?
Colorado courts generally require a negligence-based legal malpractice claim to establish three points:
- The attorney owed you a duty of care.
- The attorney breached that duty.
- The breach caused you damages.
In many cases involving a lost lawsuit, causation requires examining the “case within a case.” In other words, it isn’t enough to show that your lawyer missed the deadline. You also need evidence that the underlying claim had merit and that the missed deadline caused you to lose something of value.
Is There a Deadline for Filing a Malpractice Claim?
Timing matters with the malpractice case itself. Colorado generally applies a two-year limitations period to negligence-based legal malpractice claims. Accrual can begin when you know, or through reasonable diligence should know, about the attorney’s negligence and the resulting injury. That date depends heavily on the facts, so don’t assume the deadline from your original case is the deadline for a malpractice claim.
Find Out What a Missed Deadline Cost You
A filing mistake matters most when it changes your legal rights or the value of your original case. Jeffress Law, PC, can examine the missed deadline, the underlying claim, and the loss that followed. For help in Boulder, Fort Collins, Longmont, Loveland, or nearby areas, contact us or call 303-993-8685 to speak with Christopher W. Jeffress and the Jeffress Law team.
